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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 17 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Claire Francis update
From: Phil X Milstein
2. New Bettye LaVette CD and free downloads
From: James Cassidy
3. Re: Sue Lynn / Chris Andrews
From: Michael Robson
4. Re: Shirley Ellis & the Sweet Inspirations
From: Mick Patrick
5. Re: Marc Eric
From: Frank Jastfelder
6. DDRR 7th birthday
From: Chris King
7. Re: Vinnie Bell
From: Eddy
8. Re: Teddy Vann
From: Simon White
9. Re: John Schroeder
From: Jack Russell
10. Buddy Holly associate Ray Ruff dies
From: Ed Salamon
11. Re: meet the Beadles
From: Phil X Milstein
12. Fine art from chewed bubblegum?
From: Kim Cooper
13. Freddy Cannon on the Swan label
From: Paul Urbahns
14. The Mojo Men
From: Bob Radil
15. Frankie Avalon's "Donīt Make Fun Of Me"
From: Julio Niņo
16. Re: The (early) Association
From: S.J. Dibai
17. ONJ, Travolta: Two Of A Kind
From: Tracy Pernell
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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 17:51:35 -0400
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: Claire Francis update
Our dear friend and fellow Spectropopper Claire Francis has asked me
to forward the following update on her medical condition to the group.
--Phil M.
---
I have been wanting to write to the Spectropop Nation for a while
now, but as my past behavior has shown, when things get heavy in my
family I tend to drop out and just focus on the family.
I am a little better now, but my health was not great for the last
two months. I could barely walk. The doctor postponed my surgery
again because he said I was still not well enough, so I am going to
a medical spa for four weeks to try and build up my body for the
second breast cancer surgery. But please don't worry -- I will be
fine, just dealing with a lot, but I can handle it, and look forward
to coming back strong in a few months.
I wrote a song last night about Hurricane Katrina destroying so much
after watching CNN's coverage of the devastation. If I ever get it
recorded and sold, I will give the entire funds from the record and
publishing to the good folks who lost everything, and to help build
New Orleans once again. The music must never die.
Speaking of which, "I Love New York" is going to be recorded again!
Marva Josie and I spoke on the phone over the last two days. She had
to go to Lincoln Center for a gala to accept an award for Earl
"Fatha" Hines. She asked me to go with her, but I was too exhausted
so I called my friend Bernard Purdie, who was the drummer on "I Love
New York," and asked him to take her. He was delighted, and he also
told me that he is recording "I Love New York" on his next album.
Well, I guess I have filled you all in -- again. I am sorry for not
writing sooner. Rock of Ages and Spectropop have become part of my
extended family, and I really love you all. I try and read the posts
on the website, but it takes me a period of time. I can't write often
now, but I will stay in touch. I really do love you all and I will
keep praying for us all.
Love and Light
Claire Francis
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Message: 2
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 08:40:58 -0400
From: James Cassidy
Subject: New Bettye LaVette CD and free downloads
Like cream rising to the top, the name Bettye LaVette surfaces here
at Spectropop every so often. If you appreciate gritty soul singing
and aren't familiar with her work, do yourself a favor and get over
to Anti-Records: http://www.anti.com/artist.php?id=25 You'll find
two classic Bettye tracks to download for free, as well as a couple
of songs from her new CD (I love this title!) "I've Got My Own Hell
to Raise." Lots of other links there, too.
Jim Cassidy
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Message: 3
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 21:14:56 +0100
From: Michael Robson
Subject: Re: Sue Lynn / Chris Andrews
Will Stos:
> I've also just received the latest Dreambabes CD (Stonefree and
> Sassy or is it vice versa) in the mail and LOVE it! A particular
> standout is the weird and wonderful "Reach For The Moon" by Sue
> Lynn. Is this the same lady who cut "Don't Pity Me"?"
Here's a Sue Lynne Discography:
LYNNE, SUE
45 RCA 1724 (1968)
A. REACH FOR THE MOON
B. ALL ALONE
LYNNE, SUE
45 RCA 1822 (1969)
A. YOU
B. DON'T PITY ME
LYNNE, SUE
45 RCA 1874 (1969)
A. BABY, BABY, BABY
B. YOU LOSE AGAIN
Most of the above were written and produced by Chris Andrews,
although I must give a brief mention to "BABY, BABY, BABY" which
is a great cover of the Ellie Greenwich song (from her 1968
"COMPOSES, PRODUCES AND SINGS" LP), the production of which evokes
those wonderful Clodagh Rodgers 45s of the period (also on RCA and
arranged by Ian Green) and is in very much need of rediscovery.
clunk click every flip,
Michael Clunkie
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Message: 4
Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 00:45:33 +0100
From: Mick Patrick
Subject: Re: Shirley Ellis & the Sweet Inspirations
Will Stos:
> I've just rediscovered a Shirley Ellis CD and am enjoying it a
> great deal. On some tracks the backing vocals stand out quite
> a bit. Does anyone know if the Sweet Inspirations or their
> forerunners sang on any of these?
Well spotted that man. The forerunners of the Sweet Inspirations
do indeed sing backups on the following Shirley Ellis tracks:
Shy One
Takin' Care Of Business
Such A Night
Bring It On Home To Me
Don't Let Go
Kansas City
C.C. Rider
Stagger Lee
These titles were all recorded in 1964, some three years before
the girls had the name Sweet Inspirations bestowed upon them by
Jerry Wexler. They had no real name at the time, and were known
in the business as "The Group". Dee Dee Warwick had the most
prominent voice. Although their line-up was fluid, she usually
shared the mic with Cissy Houston, Sylvia Shemwell (Judy Clay's
sister) and Estelle Brown.
Would I be correct in assuming that the CD you have is "The
Complete Congress Recordings"? If so, all the tracks listed
above are on it. Find an insightful review of the CD here:
http://www.spectropop.com/recommends/index2003.htm#ShirleyEllis
And in case you hadn't noticed, Shirley has her own page @ S'pop:
http://www.spectropop.com/ShirleyEllis/index.htm
Much better yet even is Harry Young's stupendous Shirley Ellis
tribute site, containing EVERYTHING you could ever wanna know
about the "Nitty Gritty" gal:
http://keepkey.yochanan.net/shirley1.htm
Hey la,
Mick Patrick
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Message: 5
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 09:55:01 +0200
From: Frank Jastfelder
Subject: Re: Marc Eric
Mike Bennidict:
> Anyone know about Marc Eric? I know a couple of tunes by him,
> California and where Have The Girls of Summer Gone.
In 2002 Rev-Ola brought out his brilliant album with bonus tracks.
The liner notes are very comprehensive and fun to read. A
definitive must-have.
Frank Jastfelder
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Message: 6
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 09:45:38 +0100
From: Chris King
Subject: DDRR 7th birthday
Dear fellow Brit-based Spectropoppers -
Amazingly, DA DOO RON RON, "the legendary girl group extravaganza"
celebrates its SEVENTH Birthday - Yes, now we are seven!
Next month (October) on SATURDAY 15th OCTOBER @ the radically
refurbished Sussex Arts Club, 7, Ship St, Brighton, East Sussex,
England. Tel:-01273-727371 / 778020.
To help with the festivities we are joined by extra special
guests all female glittery dance troupe The ACTIONETTES
http://www.actionettes.com & we hope to give away a FREE Da Doo
compiled CD (Volume 2) to the first 20 arrivals on the door.
You can guarantee entry (as long as you arrive by Midnight!) by
emailing shampooturtle43-dadoo@yahoo.co.uk and reserving names
in advance. I'd recommend this as we reached capacity at our last
Da Doo around midnight.
Doors swing open @ 10pm & its just a fiver before 11pm. Ģ7 after.
As well as dancin' from The Actionettes, myself & fellow DJ Simon
Bridger (Brighton northern soul all-dayers) will spin our familiar
femme-tabulous smorgasbord of 60s girl group action from the likes
of The Supremes, Dusty, Nancy, Aretha, The Ronettes, Nina,
Brigitte Bardot, Shangri-Las, Chiffons, Crystals, Jacqueline
Taieb, Darlene Love, The Vandellas, Chris Clark, Lulu, Cilla,
Sandie, Shirley et al all on crackly vinyl rekkids.
So for a Birthday sashay through the femme-centric side of the
swingin' sixties make a beehive for Da Doo on Sat 15th October.
Many thanks indeed for your indulgence,
Oodles,
Chris Da Doo
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dadooronron/flyer.htm
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Message: 7
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 12:32:41 +0200
From: Eddy
Subject: Re: Vinnie Bell
John DeAngelis:
> With all due respect to the great Vinnie Bell, I am skeptical of
> the claim on his website that he played guitar on Donovan's
> "Sunshine Superman"
Donovan's Sunshine Superman is a track claimed by Big Jim Sullivan.
Eddy
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Message: 8
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 11:58:19 +0100
From: Simon White
Subject: Re: Teddy Vann
Forgive me if this has been listed (I know Larry Hale's Northern
stomper "Once" already has) but I was just logging some 45's (as
you do) and came across this:
Larry Hale
Shout And Do The Duck / Organ Shout And Do The Duck
Columbia 43513
Written and produced by Teddy Vann
Simon White
--
Sit on a potato pan, Otis
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Message: 9
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 13:22:59 +0100
From: Jack Russell
Subject: Re: John Schroeder
David Bell:
> John Schroeder wrote a bunch of great stuff for Helen Shapiro.
> And he was also her cousin Susan Singer's mentor. I was so
> envious when a group of friends went to see the West End show
> based around the life of Joe Meek and John Schroeder was part
> of the outing. I would love to ask him about Susan, as so little
> seems to be known about her. Does anyone know how to contact him
> as I'd love to think that she is part of his forthcoming book?
Hi David, Not sure about your query but John Schroeder was our
A&R/Producer at PYE when we were Floribunda Rose and Scrugg. The
line-up was John Kongos, Pete Clifford, Chris Dee, Nick Doktor
(known as Doc) and me, Jack Russell. Later Pete left and Doc was
replaced by Henry Spinetti. Schroeder produced Status Quo at that
time too.
Jack Russell
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Message: 10
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 14:32:07 -0000
From: Ed Salamon
Subject: Buddy Holly associate Ray Ruff dies
Buddy Holly associate Ray Ruff dies
Buddy introduced Ray to Norman Petty, who cut records with Ray
which are included in "The Buddy Holly Sounds of Ray Ruff"
(Hydra). Ray did A&R for Dot at 17 where he produced Brian Hyland
("Tragedy", etc.). Later he produced Them on Tower, The Osmonds
and other MGM Curb artists. We became friends in the 70s when he
produced many Country hits (including Hank Williams Jr., Susie
Allanson, Stephanie Winslow -the latter two were married to Ray)
and promoted Country records.
Ed Salamon
SAUGUS, Calif. - Marvin Ray "Ray Ruff" Ruffin died Thursday, Sept.
15, 2005. Memorial services will be at 4 p.m. Tuesday in Palisades
Baptist Church in Amarillo, Texas. Ray was born to Marvin and
Bertha Ruffin. He was an Amarillo police officer, professional
baseball player, and at one time ran for the U.S, Congress. But
his talent always lived in the music industry, where he has won
several awards for his work as a record producer and promoter.
Survivors include his wife, Sharon Ruffin of Saugus; a stepson,
Ryan Rockwell of Saugus; his daughters, Holly Ruffin Stauder,
Jessica Ruffin Archer and Tammye Thompson, all of Amarillo and
Kim Muckleroy of Houston; three sisters, Gloria Lackey of Amarillo,
Diane Garcia and Darlene Postma of Alto; nine grandchildren and
great-grandchildren; and ten nieces and nephews.
Our family would like to express that Ray was one of the strongest,
most gentle men anyone had the honor of meeting. The Lord blessed
all of us when he gave us Marvin Ray Ruffin. He will be missed as
much as he was loved ... which is more than words can say.
Amarillo Globe-News, Sept. 20, 2005
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Message: 11
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 10:27:48 -0400
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: Re: meet the Beadles
Gary Myers wrote:
> I met them in Ishpeming, MI, when they were the Blue Echoes.
> They subsequently came out to SoCal (as did I) and I saw them
> out here a couple of times. ...
Gary, are you trying to tell us that the Canadian Beadles weren't
Canadian at all?! I can understand adding a British identifier to
one's name under the mid-'60s circumstances, but Canadian? No
offense to those from the 51st state, of course.
--Phil M.
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Message: 12
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 09:31:55 -0700
From: Kim Cooper
Subject: Fine art from chewed bubblegum?
Two lucky guests at the Bubblegum Achievement Awards this October
7 will be going home with a most unusual keepsake: a work of art
crafted not in oils or acrylics, but in multi-colored, pre-chewed,
icky, sticky bubblegum!
The Gummy Awards celebrate the silly, double entendre-laden music
made by studio bands in the late sixties and marketed to pre-
adolescents. Presented by the editors of the book "Bubblegum Music
is the Naked Truth," this year's ceremony honors Archies singer
Ron Dante ("Sugar Sugar"), Joey Levine of the Ohio Express ("Yummy
Yummy Yummy"), Steve Barri (Lancelot Link & the Evolution
Revolution) and beloved novelty DJ Dr. Demento. There will be free
Bazooka bubblegum for all guests, the west coast premier of a new
bubblegum music documentary, live performances from Canned Hamm,
The Bubblegum Queen, Abram the Safety Ape and Ron Dante, and an
exclusive marionette spectacular by legendary puppeteer Bob Baker.
Every guest will receive one raffle ticket, with the option to
purchase additional ones. The prizes, provided by the event's many
sponsors, range from books ("Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth,"
"Vanilla Pop," "TV A-Go-Go," "Lost in the Grooves," "The Monkees:
The Day-By-Day Story," and volumes from the 33 1/3 series), retro-
look t-shirts from Y-Que and Art of Bleeding, collectable Garbage
Pail Kids and Wacky Packages cards, Twink box sets, Bazooka
bubblegum and free artist memberships at CDBaby.com.
The twin grand prizes are a fine art print of Britney Spears in
bubblegum on plywood by Jason Kronenwald from the Gum Blondes
series, and an original, small scale bubblegum portrait of
Lancelot Link Secret Chimp by Bubblegum Society artist Ben Harben.
Both artists riff on the ironic connections between disposable
celebrities and cheap and trashy chewing gum, while producing
compelling, provocative and very beautiful art.
For more info on the Bubblegum Awards, visit
http://www.bubblegum-music.com
or contact editrix Kim Cooper at amscray@gmail.com
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Message: 13
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 14:25:28 -0400
From: Paul Urbahns
Subject: Freddy Cannon on the Swan label
Billy G Spradlin wrote:
> Speaking of Swan Records, is there a discography listing anywhere
> online?
Phil Hall answered:
> Try this: http://koti.mbnet.fi/wdd/swan.htm
You can tell by reading that discography Freddy (boom Boom) Cannon
kept the label in business for quite some time. Most of the other
artists on Swan (including in this case The Beatles) only had one
hit on the label. Freddy Cannon had 5 albums, I have them all, out
of a total of 16 they issued. he is also well represented on the
three various artists albums.
Paul Urbahns
Radcliff, Ky.
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Message: 14
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 19:03:08 -0000
From: Bob Radil
Subject: The Mojo Men
Gary Myers wrote:
> Our lead guitarist also did a record with them as the Mojo Men.
> By that time, our band had returned to Milwaukee and changed
> our name to the Mojo Men. This gets very complicated...
Is this the same act that did "Sit Down, I Think I Love You" in 1967?
Bob Radil
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Message: 15
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 19:09:52 -0000
From: Julio Niņo
Subject: Frankie Avalon's "Donīt Make Fun Of Me"
Hola everybody.
Last night, I was falling sleep, listening inattentively to my
favorite Oldies radio program as I usually do, when suddenly my
heart skipped a beat. The reason was a little beautiful song by
Frankie Avalon that I īve never heard before. It was titled, I
think , "Donīt Make Fun Of Me" or something similar. It begins
with some notes that reminded me a lot of Bacharachīs "Walk On
By". I fell in love immediately with the song, but I couldnīt
find any reference to it among the notes of my Frankieīs records.
Could anybody please tell me something about this tune (who
composed it, year of the recording, if there are any other
versions of it, If is it out in CD ,...). Frankie was for my
taste the most sexy of the "teen idols"; in the late fifties he
was unbelievably cute. I have never put up with his novelty tunes,
like "De De Dinah" or "Gingerbread", but I love his cooing
ballads, he sounds like an under-age crooner.
Chao.
Julio Niņo.
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Message: 16
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 20:49:37 -0000
From: S.J. Dibai
Subject: Re: The (early) Association
Mike Bennidict:
> I understand their 1st single release was a song called One Too
> Many mornings released in 1965 and was a local hit in L.A. and
> didn't do well nationally. What i'm wondering is what part of
> the year was it released?
Funny you should ask this, because I was just thinking about The
Association's fine early singles today! Their first single was
actually "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You"/"Baby, Can't You Hear Me Call
Your Name" (Jubilee 5505, 6/65--B-side is not the same song as
"You Hear Me Call Your Name" from their "Renaissance" album). The
second was "One Too Many Mornings"/"Forty Times" (Valiant 730,
10/65), which did indeed become a local hit. All of these tracks,
except for "Baby, Can't You Hear...", are in a slightly rough
hewn folk-rock vein that bears no resemblance to "Cherish" or
"Never My Love."
> I ask because their 1st national hit cherish was released in
> the fall of 1966 I believe and I don't know of any other songs
> by them in between those releases.
"Cherish" was their second national hit (Valiant 747, 8/66, #1 on
the Hot 100). Their first was "Along Comes Mary" (Valiant 741,
3/66, #7 on the Hot 100), which lay stagnant until The
Association Admiration Aggregation stormed the radio stations in
LA and it finally started catching on. It didn't even hit the Hot
100 until June.
S.J. Dibai
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Message: 17
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 20:50:23 -0000
From: Tracy Pernell
Subject: ONJ, Travolta: Two Of A Kind
Not that this was a great movie, but the soundtrack has become
something of a gold mine because it has drifted in and out of
print since its release in 1983---anyone with any knowledge of
it, please share it with me! Thanks a lot!
Tracy Pernell
Nashville
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